


Finals Week

by taylor_tut



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awesome James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, MIT Era, Sick Character, Sick Tony Stark, Sickfic, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 16:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17871119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: A little drabble for prompt from my tumblr: "What aboutttt MIT era Tony powering his way through finals week with the flu only to collapse the second he walks into the dorm room as Rhodey is halfway through asking if Tony "Feels okay?""





	Finals Week

Rhodey could hear Tony fumbling with the keys for so long outside the door that he stood, a little annoyed, from studying on his bed to open it for him. He’d known that Tony had been staying up all night for the past few nights studying—that was kind of Tony’s thing, being in more classes than he should technically be allowed to take and feeling the need to ace all of them—and the poor guy had looked so exhausted this morning that Rhodey had found two mismatched shoes by the door, suggesting that Tony had worn one of each. The second he opened the door, Tony swayed forward and he caught him by the shoulders with a surprised yelp. 

“Woah,” he greeted, “hey, man. Rough day?” Tony finally managed to right himself enough to stand on his own, but he still looked shaky on his feet and like he could manage to fall down if Rhodey pulled away fully. Tony just nodded and let Rhodey take his backpack off his shoulders as he dragged himself to his bed and flopped down face first. Rhodey was used to seeing the kid tired, but this was a new level, even for Tony. No matter how many days in a row he was normally up for, he never just crashed like this. 

“How were your tests?” Rhodey asked, hoping that might shed some light on his sour mood. It backfired when Tony tensed up, barely turning his head to look at him. It was then that he could see that it hadn’t just been the hallway lights—Tony’s face was pale, save for red cheeks, and his eyes were watery and reddish. 

“I failed them,” Tony said, and it took all of Rhodey’s self-control not to roll his eyes.

“Come on; you’re the smartest guy I know. I’ve never met a test you couldn’t ace with your eyes closed.” 

Instead of looking comforted or even cocky, as he’d have expected, Tony just looked more upset, burying his face in the pillow once more and muttering something that sounded like “I failed,” though it was muffled. 

Rhodey sighed. At that point, he was starting to feel a little worried. Tony seemed out of it and miserable, which, while half the school had flu bugs and colds, was a pretty big red flag. 

“Are you feeling alright, man?” he asked, and when Tony didn’t say anything, just groaned, he smiled sympathetically and sat on the side of his bed. He pushed Tony’s shoulder to roll him over, revealing a glaring face that was angry and tired and squinting at the light. Rhodey pressed his palm to Tony’s forehead and his smile fell when he was shocked by the heat. 

“Leave me alone,” Tony fought, trying to push Rhodey’s hands away so he could dig back into the covers, but Rhodey wasn’t having it.

“You’re burning up, Tony,” Rhodey noted concernedly. The fever was higher than he’d been expecting, though he  _had_  been expecting one, and he stood to rummage through their meager medicine cabinet for some Nyquil for Tony. There wasn’t much left, but judging by Tony’s state, he was probably going to have to take him to student health services tomorrow, anyway, for antibiotics, so he wasn’t too worried about it. 

“Here,” he said as he poured a capful and offered it to Tony with a cup of water, “take this and drink the water.” Tony shuffled in the sheets as if he were going to object, but the desire for water won out, so he reached for both, choked down the medicine, and drained the water. 

“Thanks,” he muttered, already beginning to fall asleep. 

“Don’t mention it,” he brushed him off. “You did the same two weeks ago for me when I had strep.” He reached out to ruffle Tony’s hair a bit, earning himself a scowl. “And even if you didn’t,  _somebody_  has to take care of you, ‘cause you’re damn well not going to do it yourself.” It was a testament to how crappy Tony was feeling that he didn’t even argue. Instead, he just allowed Rhodey to cover him up and fell asleep, finally finished with his finals and able to get at least a small break before the next thing that demanded all his energy, because both of them knew it wouldn’t be long.


End file.
